The theatre company Studio 42 kicks off its 2008 season with a one-night-only presentation of Timothy Charles Browne's The Most Lamentable & Tragical Historie of the Barber-Surgeons Aug. 22 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons.

The Most Lamentable & Tragical Historie of the Barber-Surgeons, according to press notes, is a "grotesque romp through medieval medicine! Featuring groundbreaking grave robbers! Screaming, sex-addicted royals! Talking rats from the future! Obnoxious Frenchmen! And independent women! Tasked with saving the whole of England after a plague of unknown origin ravages the Land, two intrepid barber-surgeons must face the impossible (and do the unthinkable) in a pitch-black comedy of terrors that dares to ask: Can the cure really be worse than the disease? Are there limits to scientific inquiry? Is Elizabeth really a virgin queen? And just what on earth are we going to do with all these severed limbs?!"

The production features costume design by Bobby Frederick Tilley, lighting design by Jason Lyons, sound design by Sharath Patel and original music by Andrew Shapiro. Samara Bay produces.

Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons is located in Manhattan at 416 West 42nd Street. Tickets, priced $20, are available by visiting www.ticketcentral.com, by calling (212) 279-4200 or by heading to the Ticket Central box office (located at 416 West 42nd Street). (The 11 PM performance will feature door prizes.) *

Studio 42 was founded in 2001 and is dedicated to supporting emerging artists and developing new work. For more information visit www.stu42.com.